NY Times: Stimulus bill to pass on partisan lines
The Agonist - thoughtful, global, timely — Stimulus bill to pass on partisan lines: Hours before the House was expected to approve his proposed $825 billion program, largely along partisan lines, Mr. Obama tried to convey his message far beyond the corridors of the Capitol and into boardrooms and living rooms. The future of the American economy rests less in his hands than it does “with American companies and workers,” Mr. Obama said. So much for new era of unity in Washington DC. From now on the left needs to realize that there is no reason to pre-compromise on anything, ...

THE “STIMULUS” BILL: “A 40-year wish list.” UPDATE: “Not a moment to spare.” Because given eno…
Instapundit — THE “STIMULUS” BILL: “A 40-year wish list.” UPDATE: “Not a moment to spare.” Because given enough time, people might wise up . . . .? ...

Timidity in the Face of Fiscal Recklessness Is No Vice
Hit & Run — Even as President Obama promises that the federal government will spend the $1 trillion or so contemplated in the stimulus legislation in a utterly open, totally transparent, and absolutely accountable way, he demands that members of Congress vote for the 647-page ...

House Passes Stimulus Bill
TalkLeft — The House just passed the stimulus bill by a vote of 244-188. I think 2 NO Republicans voted for the bill. NYTimes report. ...

Stimulus passes House with zero GOP votes
Political Animal — STIMULUS PASSES HOUSE WITH ZERO GOP VOTES.... After all the outreach to House Republicans, all the concessions, all of the reports about the economic crisis, all of the evidence showing the stimulative effects of the plan, not a single GOP lawmaker in the chamber voted for the economic rescue package. The House voted, 244-188, on Wednesday evening for President Obama's package of federal tax cuts and spending worth $819 billion and meant to jump-start the economy out of its worst crisis in decades. Although the president's legislative victory was no surprise, given the ...

Zero lower bound
Paul Krugman — January 28, 2009, 6:59 pm Zero lower bound The House has passed the stimulus bill with not a single Republican vote . Aren’t you glad that Obama watered it down and added ineffective tax cuts, so as to win bipartisan support? ...

House Passes Stimulus Plan
Calculated Risk — From the NY Times: House Passes Obama’s Stimulus Package Without a single Republican vote, President Obama won House approval on Thursday for an $819 billion economic recovery plan as Congressional Democrats sought to hold down their own difference over the enormous package of tax cuts and spending. ... As Senate Democrats prepare to bring their version to the floor on Monday, Democrats from the House and the administration indicated they would ultimately accept a provision in the emerging Senate package that would adjust the alternative minimum tax to hold ...

House Republicans to America: 'Hey, Screw Your Recovery, Okay?'
Blah3 Feed — Maybe they ought to change the name to 'The Obstructionists' and be done with it. Without a single Republican vote, President Obama won House approval on Thursday for an $819 billion economic recovery plan as Congressional Democrats sought to hold down their own difference over the enormous package of tax cuts and spending. The president should go on TV and explain to the american people that this stimulus package will get passed either with or without Republican help, and remind everyone that he extended his hand to the ...

Majority Rules, Woot!
Greatscat! — Majority Rules, Woot! Obama's economic stimulus package passed in the House this evening without one single, solitary Republican vote. -Diane ...

Bipartisanship is just another word for date rape
the talking dog — ... of greeting that the President must have gotten from the (all-White) House Republican Caucus, whom he addressed the other day to try to garner some-- some...any at all-- Republican support for his massive ecnomic stimulus package, and so he listened politely, proposed removing some family planning expenditures and hearing them out on more tax cuts (for the super-rich)... and, unsuprisingly, if you ask me... he got a similar reaction to Sheriff Bart. More specifically, the over $800 billion stimulus package passed the House with 11 Democrats voting ...

L.A. Times: Republicans Are Complaining Complainers Who Complain
Patterico's Pontifications — The stimulus bill was passed in the House without a single Republican vote, and kudos to House Republicans for that. Predictably, the Los Angeles Times portrays Republicans as complainers: The House’s Democratic leaders pushed the plan to the floor confident about holding the votes needed for passage without the support of Republicans complaining that the plan includes too much new government spending and not enough tax relief. . . . House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R- Ohio) led other GOP lawmakers in voicing the party’s complaint about the measure . . . ...

"That was really an outstanding comment."
Bitch. Ph.D. — ... In other news, good thing that Obama and the Democrats agreed to make sure that no government money could go to states that might give birth control pills (horror!) to low-income women. Once they compromised on that silly little issue, the Republicans agreed to support the bill! Or not.

Bipartisanship And The Stimulus
Obsidian Wings — ... by hilzoy From the NYT: "Without a single Republican vote,  ...

Shrinking Fast, GOP Now the Party of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and 'No!'
Politics Daily — Filed under: Senate, House, Republicans, Featured StoriesA curious thing has happened to the Republican Party in the wake of its resounding defeat in the November elections. Rather than recalibrate and update its message to meet the challenges of the troubled times in which we live, it has decided to double-down on the philosophical bets that led to its recent losses. No greater evidence this bunker mentality can be found than in the de facto anointment of Rush Limbaugh to the ceremonial post of party king. If it sounds far-fetched that a firebrand talk-show host actually wields this much ...

Dear President Obama: So how's that "doing away with the politics of the past" working for ya?
Brilliant at Breakfast — ... So now you have made the gesture. You made an effort to include them. And for your trouble you got absolutely no Republican votes in the House. It's going to be worse for you in the Senate, where the REAL Republican blowhards reside. ...

The Early Word: In Search of the Holy Bipartisan Grail
The Caucus — ... as if the new bipartisanship was nothing but a mirage, but that perception itself may be something of an illusion. White House spokesman Gibbs, on NBC’s Today Show, acknowledged that “”it’s going to take longer than a few days to change the ways Washington works.” But he added: “If people stop looking through the partisan lens and through the economic lens, they’ll see it was put together with Democrats and Republicans and economists who supported us.” In The Times, Jackie Calmes reports that the lopsidedly partisan vote was notable, but not unprecedented: “The failure to ...

The Rude Pundit — ... army of dicks. And now we're seeing what happens when the dicks are forced into retreat, crazily beaten by the citizens of the villages, running desperately into the cover of the thick woods and craggy mountains, hoping they can find enough fellow dicks to regroup into the mighty army they once were, but discovering that they may not be able to step beyond the tree line, out of the caves, and into the open anymore for fear of being pummeled once more. Sure, sure, they might try to mount an assault, but, really, when all you were to begin with was a dick army, well, there's ...

The sound of one hand clapping
The Reaction — By Carl It seems bipartisanship died pretty quickly on the Hill: WASHINGTON — Without a single Republican vote, President Obama won House approval on Wednesday for an $819 billion economic recovery plan as Congressional Democrats sought to temper their own differences over the enormous package of tax cuts and spending. [...] Democrats voluntarily dropped from the package several provisions that ...

The House Vote
Swampland — ... Three thoughts: 1.This is not unprecedented. Republicans did not give Bill Clinton's 1993 economic plan a single vote--and you remember how the Clinton Plan led to the Great Depression of 1993...oh, wait a minute, no--it led to the Great Expansion of the 1990s. The point is, Republican economic thinking--with its tax cut obsessive-compulsive disorder--has proven as wrong as it is, apparently, immutable.  2. This is not final. The Senate version of the bill is likely to get Republican votes, especially now that the ...

FLASHBACK: McConnell Said Stimulus Not Going To Have Any Problem ‘Getting Over 60 Votes’
Wonk Room — Yesterday, the House passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on a 244-188 vote, with every Republican voting against the legislation. Now the bill passes to the Senate for debate and a potential vote next week. The Senate version of the legislation is not entirely in sync with the House’s version. As McClatchy reported last week, the Senate Finance Committee has already “added some provisions desperately sought by corporate America“: The Senate bill includes a pro-business tax provision called bonus depreciation, which would allow companies accelerated write-offs ...

The Fatwas of Legislative Terrorists
Open Left - Front Page — How do you know House Republicans aren't negotiating in good faith and are acting as legislative terrorists? Because the fatwas they are issuing are verifiably crazy: Representative Virginia Foxx, Republican of North Carolina, said that former President George Bush's signature tax cuts in 2001 had created years of growth but that the nation's problems started when Democrats regained majorities in Congress in the 2006 elections. Again, only legislative terrorists desperate to sabotage the economy would make such deliberately insane statements. Only legislative terrorists would insist that the economy was Teh Awesome ...

Stiffing the American People and Calling It “Principle”
Comments from Left Field — Toby Harnden, the U.S. correspondent for the British paper, Telegraph, calls yesterday’s 244-188 vote in the House, approving an $819 billion economic stimulus package, a “slap in the face to Barack Obama” and “a hollow victory indeed.” Why? Because House Republicans all voted against it, despite Pres. Obama’s $275 billion tax cut concession, despite his personal efforts to reach out to the GOP leadership, and despite the reality of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. President Barack Obama got the $825 (or $1.2 trillion over a decade) stimulus ...

Partisan Barbs Follow House Stimulus Vote
The Caucus — With the focus on the economic stimulus package shifting to the Senate, the partisan split evident with the Democrat-only passage of the bill in the House last night overshadowed a lot of the discussions on both sides of the aisle today. So much so that various leaders were practically disowning the word bipartisanship as if deadly germs were part of its etymology. At a news conference earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the Democrat-only passage of the economic stimulus package, contending that Republicans were indeed included; their suggestions on tax cuts had become part of the bill itself, she said. But several G.O.P. ...

1/30: The Battle Intensifies
Blogometer — January 30, 2009 1/30: The Battle Intensifies The House GOP caucus's unanimous rejection of Barack Obama 's economic stimulus bill has certainly energized the conservative blogosphere. Righty bloggers are ...

Rich: GOP is Rudderless, Visionless, Leaderless
Hoffmania! — Aside from that, they're just a party filled with ideas. In my pants. Frank Rich's column today is appropriately titled, "Herbert Hoover Lives." An excerpt: If anything, the Republican Congressional leadership seems to be emulating John McCain’s September stunt of “suspending” his campaign to “fix” the Wall Street meltdown. ...

Steele Criticizes Democratic ‘Obfuscation,’ While Praising GOP For Blocking Economic Recovery Bill
Think Progress — Shortly after being elected RNC chairman on Friday, Michael Steele declared, “We want you to work with us, and for those of you who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over.” Today on Fox News, Steele elaborated on these comments: And for those Democrats and others who just want to put up roadblocks and do the crazy typical play that they normally do — the name-calling, the obfuscation, and the sleight-of-hand — I don’t have time for it. Because there are important issues we have to face on the economy, the war, and issues that affect the poor, and I want ...

I have a crush on Frank Rich today.
BlueOregon — My charge here at Blue Oregon is to consistently draw attention to that which is within the boundaries of our state or directly impacts it.  But I must direct your attention to today's Sunday New York Times column by the brilliant Frank Rich ...

Donnie Fowler: GOP Unanimously Rejected Clinton Stimulus, Too
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — Here's another curious fact as the Republicans reject the American people's call for an end to gridlock partisanship. No House Republicans voted for Bill Clinton's 1993 economic stimulus package just like every single one of them rejected President Obama's this past week. It seems those guys just want to keep on keeping on with the progress our nation has made the last eight years. As I noted yesterday, President Obama's tax cuts are larger than George W. Bush's combined tax cuts in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Yet -- somehow, some way -- the GOP continues to say that the Democrats want to raise our taxes. They're ...

Open to reason
Political Animal — ... roadmap for the future: if sensible policymakers hoped to work with any Senate Republicans on economic policy, they'd have to look at those four -- Susan Collins (Maine), George Voinovich (Ohio), Arlen Specter (Pa.), and Olympia Snowe (Maine) -- who are at least open to the possibility of a stimulus. But what about the House? An alert reader reminded me last night that during the House debate on the package, the Republican caucus offered an alternative recovery package of its own, " made up entirely of tax cuts ." It didn't get much attention, and it was easily defeated, 266 ...

Obama’s Wasted Efforts At Bipartisanship
Think Progress — In the early days of his young presidency, President Obama has already accomplished a great deal, making a clean break from Bush on a variety of issues, signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and expanding the Children’s Health Insurance Program. And in a few short days, he’ll be putting his name to an economic recovery bill that will largely hew to the principles he laid out months ago. In the midst of these accomplishments, there have been some wasted efforts. And most of those wasted efforts have come from a sincere — but unwise — attempt to ingratiate himself with uncompromising ...

Sun Rises, Market Falls
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — One of the more unapologetically idiotic notions being advanced by certain conservative commentators is the idea that the poor performance of the stock markets represents a negative reaction to Barack Obama's stimulus package. For one thing, the trading markets aren't gauges of overall economic health. They are gauges of future anticipated profits for the large corporations that make up their components. In the long run, certainly, these two things should be correlated. But they needn't be perfectly so: an oil price shock, for instance, is possibly good for the profitability of Exxon, while being damaging to the economy at large. ...

June Job Losses Causing July Heat Stress in D.C.
Gateway Pundit — Here is my latest column at American Issues Project: June Job Losses Causing July Heat Stress in D.C. They say that heat stress makes you dizzy and heat exhaustion brings on a cold sweat. But, after the latest unemployment figures were released for June the Obama Administration is starting to show signs of heat stroke. It's getting hot in Washington this July. And the White House is feeling the heat. On January 10, 2009, President-elect Barack Obama released a report detailing the aggregate effect of a stimulus package on gross domestic product (GDP) and job ...

Texas Lawmakers Who Voted Against The Recovery Act Now Beg For Stimulus Funds For NASA
Think Progress — Every single Republican in the House voted against the $819 billion Recovery Act in January. Among the Republican senators who voted against the stimulus were Texas’ Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. Both of them complained that they wanted to see more tax cuts rather than government spending. But now, both Hutchison and Cornyn are pressuring the Obama administration to give Texas $3 billion in stimulus funds. The co-signers on the letter are a bipartisan group of the Texas delegation in the House, including 19 Republicans, all of whom also voted against the funds for which ...

Phil Gingrey’s Stimulus Hypocrisy: Votes Against Recovery Act In DC, But Hands Out Giant Stimulus Check In Georgia
Think Progress — Earlier this year, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) — commonly referred to as the stimulus — without a single Republican vote in the House of Representatives. Since then, a whole host of legislators who opposed the stimulus have jumped on the chance to personally deliver stimulus funds to their cash-strapped districts. The latest member of Congress to engage in this hypocrisy is Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA). Earlier this month, Gingrey appeared in the city of Cedartown, Georgia, to present a giant check of $625,000 in stimulus funds to the city commission to help fund the ...

Rep. Kingston Doesn’t Mention The Stimulus When Handing Out Stimulus Funds
Think Progress — Earlier this year, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) — commonly referred to as the stimulus — without a single Republican vote in the House of Representatives. Since then, a whole host of legislators who opposed the stimulus have jumped at the opportunity to personally deliver stimulus funds to their cash-strapped districts. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that not a single Georgian GOP legislator who voted against ARRA has turned down stimulus funds for their district. The paper notes one congressman, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), has managed to get away with this ...